Fearing arrest, Delhi rape accused tried to strangle 5-yr-old victim

Delhi Police personnel take away Manoj Kumar, accused of brutally raping a five-year-old girl in the capital, in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. PTI Photo

Investigations into the barbaric rape of a five-year-old have revealed that the accused, Manoj Kumar, tried to kill the girl after brutalising her as he feared arrest.

Police said the incident took place between 6 pm and 7 pm. Kumar kidnapped the girl at 6 pm and left her locked inside his rented room around 7 pm. He left for his native village in Bihar after the girl fell unconscious.

Police said there were cut marks and signs of strangulation on the neck of the victim, which proves that Kumar had tried to kill her. But after being brutalised and strangled by Kumar, she fell unconscious and Kumar thought that she had died.

Prabhakar, DCP (east), said Kumar disclosed during interrogation that he left the house within an hour of crime, thinking that the girl was dead. The girl remained in that dark room for nearly 40 hours before being rescued, Prabhakar said.

"Prima facie, it appears that Kumar had strangled the girl and she lost consciousness. She also gave in under the extreme pain inflicted by Kumar who inserted several objects inside body. Assuming her to be dead, Kumar locked the house and boarded a bus to New Delhi Railway Station from where he boarded the Swatantrata Senani Express for Muzaffarpur and left Delhi around 8.30 pm," said a source.

People are protesting against the rape of 5-year-old girl outside the AIIMS. Photo by Mohd Zakir/Hindustan Times

After leaving Delhi, Kumar first went to his ancestral house at Bharathua village in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on April 16 and the next day reached in-laws' house in Chiknauta village.

People are protesting against the rape of 5-year-old girl outside the AIIMS. Photo by Mohd Zakir/Hindustan Times

His father-in-law Mahendra Sah said Kumar suddenly arrived at the village on Tuesday evening without any prior notice. "We had no clue what he was up to," he told reporters in Bihar. People in his native village have decided to boycott Kumar's family.